In case you don't have Paint.Net on your computer, you can pick it up [url]=http://www.getpaint.net/download.html]HERE[/url]. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to UNDER the green "Download Now" button, and use either the Download or the Mirror link provided at the right side of the Version line.

This is a quick and easy download, which also installs very quickly. Once you have installed the software, you can look at the top right corner and choose the little gear, for Settings. Then choose the Updates tab, and click everything, if you'd like to be on the cutting edge of their application updates. If you don't want to use beta software, just unclick the bottom one. You can also just update manually, but these little updates are very easy, and you will always have the choice to update AFTER you exit the program, so you don't have to interrupt what you started doing, before getting the update.

OK...onward to the basics of bringing in a picture then quickly editing it for posting here.Using a Whole Print Screen Image...

(1) Have the picture/screen you want in front of you. Then press the Print Scrn/SysRq button on the top row of your keyboard, to the right of the F12 key. This puts a copy of the topmost display screen onto your Windows clipboard. The picture is not saved anywhere...it is just held in memory until the next time you copy anything. In order to work with and/or save the image, you need to open some type of application that will process the image.

(2) Paint.Net works well for this. Bring up the program from your shortcut. It comes up very quickly. Once it's up, you will see a blank screen ready and waiting for you to put something on it. Using your keyboard, press CTRL/V (which is the standard Windows key combo for pasting something from the clipboard). A little box will pop up, asking you what you want to do with the image that is larger than the available screen space in the freshly-opened application. Choose Expand Canvas, and the image on the clipboard will be zoomed down (not resized) and pasted into the available space.

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(3) The resulting image will have a dotted line "traveling" around its edges, indicating that you've pasted a selected image.

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You want to get rid of that selection, if you want to select just a PART of the pasted image to save for the forum. To get rid of the existing selection, either just go to the Edit menu and choose Deselect (at the bottom of the list), or just press CTRL/D, which is the shortcut for that procedure. The dotted line will go away. If you want to just post the whole picture, you can just go on to Step 4.

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(4) If you want to just go ahead and post the whole picture that you took with the Print Screen key, you should resize it to at least 1000 pixels wide, for forum attachment use. To do that, use CTRL/R, or use the Image menu and Resize (the second choice down). A pop-up will allow you to type 1000 into the width box, then click OK.

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(5) Then you can use the File/Save (CTRL/S) option to save the picture. A pop-up will ask you where you want to save it, what you want to name the file, and what type of file you want to make.

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Choose your save location, then type in the name you want, then pull down the drop-down menu over to the right of the line that says .PNG, and chose .JPG (you could just save as .png if you want, but the .jpg makes a smaller file size).

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(6) You'll get a pop-up allowing you to change how much to cut down the file size for the .jpg save. Move the slider (see the pink oval in the following photo) all the way to 100%. This will still make a nice small file size, and it will be quite clear. You could go with less, if you REALLY need to cut down the file size, but I would suggest never going less than 95% for a .jpg save, since you will lose too many pixels to make a clear picture. Click OK, to save.

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Voila! You have completed saving a .jpg suitable for attaching in a post here at the forum.Using a Partial Print Screen Image...

If you want to just use a PART of the Print Screen, do sSteps 1-3 of the above tutorial. Then go on to Step A, below.

(A) Use the Rectangle Select (S) tool (shown in the pink oval in the following picture). If you want to select a non-rectangular area, use one of the other select tools. Trying the rectangular one first, though, is good practice.

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(B) Start at any corner of the part you want to save, left-click and drag out the rectangle to select that entire part of the picture. When you release the mouse button, you'll see a dotted line appear around that area.

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(C) Use the Image/Crop to Selection (CTRL/SHIFT/X) to make the REST of the picture go away, leaving you with JUST the part you wanted to post at the forum.

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(D) If necessary (as it would be in the case of the picture I just posted above, do the selection process (B & C above), until you get the partial area just the way you want it for the post.

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Now all you have to do is continue with Steps 5 & 6 above, and you're done! Your new, saved picture that is just a little piece of the original Print Screen image, is saved and ready to attach anywhere you like.

If you have any questions, you may e-mail me at lindawing@neighborlysimscraft.com and I'll be happy to help. If you'd like a phone call, please give me your phone number (if I don't already have it), and I'll call you back at any time you sugest...after 1 PM Central Time, please.

Thanks, Carrie. I forgot to go and remove the resizing tutorial in the TS3 area. I'll move the other two over to the general area, as well. I didn't move the Paint.Net one, because it had some things that really weren't necessary, and a bit outdated in it.